Abolition of the Slave Trade Events to mark the bicentenary of the 1807 Act of Parliament

February – November 2007

Picture from a lithograph of Ira Aldridge by Nicolas Barabas, 1853. © National Portrait Gallery, Foreword and the transatlantic slave trade In 1807 Parliament passed an Act to make illegal Tues 6th March - Fri 3rd August Britain’s participation in the transatlantic trade in Archives Centre African people. However, slavery itself was not abolished in the British colonies until 30 years later. The practice was not outlawed in America The City of Westminster Archives Centre is mounting an until 1865 and in Brazil until 1888 and even today exhibition entitled Westminster and the Transatlantic Slave still exists in different forms around the world. Trade. Focusing on the impact of the slave trade at a local level, the exhibition draws on the Centre’s extensive archives Two hundred years on, Westminster City Council and local studies collections. The exhibition also documents the lives of the African residents of Westminster during the is supporting a programme of events throughout age of the slave trade. the year to remember the millions who suffered and the people who campaigned for abolition. Admission free

Address: City of Westminster Archives Centre, 10 St Ann’s Street, We are pleased to present these free events which London, SW1P 2DE include films, walks and exhibitions. They are all Telephone: 020 7641 5180 designed to provide opportunities to learn more about Email: [email protected] the diverse heritage and culture of Westminster’s Web: www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/archives communities and promote mutual understanding and Nearest tube station: St James’s Park, Victoria awareness of this heritage amongst today’s residents. Nearest railway station: Victoria Buses: 11, 24, 211 along Victoria Street; 88 along Great Smith Street; 507 along Horseferry Road

Sir Simon Milton Leader of Westminster City Council

An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807 www.westminster.gov.uk/abolition

1 2 Ira Aldridge project Exhibition of images from the by CETTIE (Cultural Exchange Through Theatre Royal Geographical Society with IBG in Education) plus illustrated talks Tues 6th March, 6pm Westminster Libraries City of Westminster Archives Centre

A powerful collection of photographs taken by colonial Shango Baku of CETTIE will present excerpts from Splendid officer Sir Harry Johnston between 1908-09 provides a rare Mummer, a monodrama based on the life of Ira Aldridge, glimpse of everyday life in Barbados, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica the Black 19th century Shakespearean actor and abolitionist and Trinidad at the turn of the century. The collection was at Westminster Archives. donated to the Royal Geographical Society’s archive by the Johnston family in 1933. Johnston was originally asked to Ira Aldridge was the first black actor to play Othello – at Covent visit the Caribbean by US President Theodore Roosevelt and Garden in 1833 but, although acclaimed in the provinces and his expressive images reveal an unfamiliar narrative from in Europe, in London he was the victim of a racist campaign these island communities. Some scenes depict Maroon in the press. settlements – towns where runaway slaves lived freely outside The presentation will be featured at the opening ceremony British rule in the Jamaican mountains, while others show of Westminster’s exhibition commemorating the Parliamentary aspects of daily life covering farming, religion and markets. Act to abolish the Slave Trade in 1807. Some of these images are on display in the Westminster Reference Library and others can be seen in Paddington Admission free Library. After this the full collection will be on display in Maida Vale Library. Each exhibition will feature an accompanying See address details on previous page. talk. See next pages for dates of exhibitions and talks.

Women and abolition Fri 23rd March, 7pm Yaa Asantewaa Arts and Community Centre

CETTIE in collaboration with Yaa Asantewaa presents Women and Abolition: an exploration of the role of women in the abolition movement. The event will include a panel debate, presentations by women activists, poetry and drama.

Admission free

Address: Yaa Asantewaa Arts and Community Centre, 1 Chippenham Mews, London, W9 2AN Telephone: 020 7286 1656 Email: [email protected] Web: www.yaaasant.demon.co.uk Nearest tube stations: Westbourne Park, Royal Oak Maroon Boys collecting wood, Jamaica, Harry Johnston, 1908-09 Image copyright of the RGS–IBG

3 4 Westminster Reference Library Paddington Library Exhibition Mon 19th March – Fri 13th April Exhibition Mon 19th March – Fri 13th April Talk by Steve Martin Thurs 22th March, 6.30 - 8pm Talk by Cliff Pereira Thurs 29th March, 6.30 - 8pm

Illustrated talk Road to freedom on three continents Using the photographs taken by Sir Harry Johnston between An illustrated talk on free communities established by 1908-1909 this illustrated presentation will examine the impact formerly enslaved Africans on three continents. Cliff Pereira of Maroon history and culture on Jamaica society from looks at the establishment of ‘runaway slave’ settlements its origins in the 17th century to the present day. in South America, Africa and Asia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, tracing the origins of these communities Steve Martin and their legacies. Specialising in the fields of Black British history and literature, Cliff Pereira S I Martin is a writer and researcher who has undertaken Black history projects for numerous organisations including Cliff Pereira is a freelance history researcher, a Fellow of English Heritage, the National Maritime Museum, the the Royal Geographical Society, a committee Member Museum of London, several London boroughs and the BBC. of the Black and Asian Studies Association (BASA), He is the author of the novel Incomparable World and the a BASA consultant to the Royal Chatham Dockyard non-fiction title Britain’s Slave Trade. He is the founder of and a member of the Anglo-Portuguese Society. the 500 Years of Black London walking and boat tours. Cliff has published a biography of Thomas Stephens, Address: Westminster Reference Library, 35 St Martin’s Street, the first recorded Englishman in India, and conducted London, WC2H 7HP archival research on the Bombay Africans, presenting Telephone: 020 7641 1300 his work at international conferences. Email: [email protected] He is presently a consultant and researcher to the Royal Web: www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/findalibrary Geographical Society on the Crossing Continents project Nearest tube stations: Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross Address: Paddington Library, Porchester Road, London, W2 5DU Buses: 11, 24, 29, 176 or any that go to Trafalgar Square Telephone: 020 7641 1300 or Charing Cross Rd Email: [email protected] Web: www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/findalibrary Nearest tube stations: Royal Oak, Bayswater Buses: 7, 23, 27, 36, 18

5 6 Maida Vale Library Film screenings Exhibition Mon 16th April – Tues 8th May Talk by Cliff Pereira Mon 16th April, 6.30 - 7.45pm Fri 23rd February, 12.30pm Afro-Asians National Portrait Gallery, Ondaatje Wing Theatre In 2007 the popular focus is on the . This illustrated talk by Cliff Pereira looks at the older Double Bill Indian Ocean Slave trade that continued into the early years of the twentieth century. Cliff Pereira provides an overview of the routes and markets of this trade and A Son of Africa looks at the surviving communities of Africans in Asia. Dir Alrick Riley, 28 mins, 1996 To find out more about the archives of the Royal Geographical Society with IBG please visit www.rgs.org was kidnapped into slavery from a West African village when he was 11 years old. He was taken to Address: Maida Vale Library, Sutherland Avenue, London, W9 2QT a Virginia plantation, fought for Britain in various wars, bought Telephone: 020 7641 1300 his own freedom, lived in Westminster in the 1780s and wrote Email: [email protected] his autobiography which became a sensational best seller. Web: www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/findalibrary Nearest tube stations: Warwick Avenue, Maida Vale Buses: 6, 187, 414 The First Black Britons Dir Cath Sheehan, 60 mins, 2005

This fascinating film explores the hidden history of the enslaved Africans who fought for the British Army. From the 1790s onwards these men were forced to learn the English language, culture and customs and then sent back to Africa to fight other Africans. Some of them ended up living in Britain after their discharge where an act of Parliament established them as a new class of citizen - ‘Black British’. The films will be introduced by Tony Warner from 100 Black Men of London and there will be time for a discussion after the screening. Admission free – but please book a place by calling 020 7641 2498 or emailing [email protected] at least 24 hours before the event. DVDs will be available for sale on the day.

Address: St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H OHE Web: www.npg.org.uk www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk/3.html Email: Enquiries about any of the films can be sent to [email protected] Nearest tube stations: Charing Cross, Leicester Square

7 8 Film screenings continued

Sun 25th March, 2pm Thurs 31st May, 10am National Portrait Gallery, Ondaatje Wing Theatre Odeon Leicester Square

Double Bill

Slave Catchers Slave Resisters Catch a Fire Dir Judy Richardson, 100 minutes, 2005 Dir Menelik Shabaz, 30 mins, 1995

A unique documentary, which details the many ways in which This film charts the reasons for, and results of, the Morant Bay slaves resisted and fought back against the plantation owners. rebellion of 1865. Thirty one years after slavery was ‘abolished’ Slavery was built on a brutal system of slave policing - enforced Africans were still forced to live in slave-like conditions and by armed community patrols, paid slave catchers, and discrimination continued. Under the leadership of Paul Bogle, federal law. While slave catchers were usually successful, the often described as a 19th century Malcolm X, Africans in bounty hunters’ bloodhounds were occasionally defeated by Jamaica rebelled. the intelligence and courage of the enslaved. In the North, slave catchers had to contend with an organised and armed free black community. The Lion Mountains Using re-creations, archival material, and scholarly interviews, Dir Louis Buckley, 54 mins, 2005 Slave Catchers Slave Resisters brings a story to life that has never before been portrayed on film. Through the lens of subtitles time, these tales demonstrate that within the darkness, there was also light. Film director Louis Buckley will be present at the screening to take questions. Children should be accompanied by an adult. 25 year old Louis Buckley was born in London and lives The film will be introduced by Tony Warner from 100 Black in Paddington. In his documentary he traces his roots Men of London and there will be time for a discussion after back to Sierra Leone, a country rich in natural resources the screening. yet one of the poorest in the world. Buckley looks at black Admission free – but please book a place by calling revolutionaries, the abolition of the slave trade, the extent 020 7641 2498 or emailing [email protected] of the Diaspora, and the after-effects of colonialism. at least 48 hours before the event. The films will be introduced by Tony Warner from 100 Black Men of London and there will be time Address: St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H OHE for a discussion after the screening. Web: www.npg.org.uk www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk/3.html Admission free – but please book a place by calling Email: Enquiries about any of the films can be sent to 020 7641 2498 or emailing [email protected] [email protected] at least 24 hours before the event. Nearest tube stations: Charing Cross, Leicester Square DVDs will be available for sale on the day.

Address: 24-26 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7JY Email: [email protected] Web: www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk/3.html Nearest tube station: Leicester Square 9 Nearest railway station: Charing Cross 10 Guided heritage walks On the road to abolition with Steve Martin – an online heritage trail Sun 1st April, 11am Sun 22nd April, 11am We invite you to follow a heritage trail which takes in some key sites in Westminster related to the slave trade. You can Wed 16th May, 11am download a map and an optional audio guide from the internet Sat 16th June, 11am at www.westminster.gov.uk/abolition. The map illustrates a walk from Trafalgar Square to Pimlico and highlights events and individuals involved in the campaign to abolish slavery.

As a hub of local and national government, events Devised by the historian Steve Martin, it has been jointly and individuals in the city of Westminster have produced by the partners below. played a determining role in the history of people The walk is intended as a starting point for anyone interested of African origin in the British Empire during and in exploring one of the most catastrophic events in modern after the period of the transatlantic slave trade. British and world history. For a printed copy of the map please This walk will highlight the careers of Black activists and email arts@westminster, ring 020 7641 2498 writers and white parliamentarians who fought for an end or visit one of the participating galleries. to the trade in human lives, as well as taking a look at the lives of ordinary Black Londoners who were affected by it. Throughout the tour we will hear the voices of former slaves like Ottobah Cugoano, Ignatius Sancho and Olaudah Equiano, who resided in Westminster expressing in their own words the horrors of slavery. We will also hear the story of the abolitionist struggle in the through the words of and Henry Thornton. The British slave trade: abolition, It is a story that will take us from 1511 (and one of the earliest parliament and people records of the African presence in London) to the Pan African Conference of 1900. Wed 23rd May to Sun 23rd September The walk will take approximately 1 hour 15 minutes and Houses of Parliament is suitable for all ages and abilities.

This exhibition tells the story of the pressures and events, Start: walks will start from the foyer of Westminster City Hall at home and abroad, which influenced Parliament’s abolition End: walks will end at Trafalgar Square of the British slave trade in 1807. The Act abolishing the trade Address: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, is displayed along with other important exhibits which bring London, SW1E 6QP this remarkable story to life. Admission free – but it is essential to book a place by calling Admission free 020 7641 2498 or emailing [email protected] at least 48 hours before the event. Address: Westminster Hall, Houses of Parliament, Parliament Square, London, SW1 Nearest tube stations: Victoria, St James’s Web: www.parliament.uk/slavetrade Nearest railway station: Victoria Buses: 11, 24, 211 Nearest tube station: Westminster Buses: 3, 11, 12, 24, 53, 77A, 211, 453

11 12 Scratch the surface 1807: Blake, slavery and Fri 20th July – Sun 4th November the radical mind The , Room 1 Mon 30th April – Sat 21st October 2007

Marking the bicentenary, Scratch the Surface brings together the paintings Zoffany’s Mrs Oswald (1763–4) and Reynolds’s Colonel Tarleton (1782) to explore the complex relationship This special display marks the anniversary of the between sitters and slavery. New work by Yinka Shonibare Parliamentary act abolishing the slave trade in the British MBE will also be on display in the spectacular Barry Rooms. empire in 1807. It focuses on William Blake (1757-1827) and the circle of radical writers and artists associated with the publisher Joseph Johnson (1738-1809) in the 1790s and 1800s. Admission free

Address: Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DN Admission free Telephone: 020 7747 2885 Web: www.nationalgallery.org.uk Address: Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG Telephone: 020 7887 8888 Nearest tube stations: Leicester Square, Charing Cross Web: www.tate.org.uk

Nearest tube station: Pimlico Buses: 2, 3, 36, 87, 88, 185, 360, 436, 507 and C10

Portraits, people and the abolition of the slave trade Sat 17th March – Sun 22nd July National Portrait Gallery

A specially commissioned trail that runs through the gallery highlighting portraits of key individuals, ranging from Elizabeth I to William Wilberforce, who have been linked to the slave trade and its abolition. These portraits include individuals who invested in the trade, or who owned slaves and supported slavery, as well as images of slaves themselves and of people who were prominent in the movement to abolish the trade.

Admission free

Address: St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE Web: www.npg.org.uk Nearest tube stations: Leicester Square, Charing Cross

William Blake (1757-1827) Frontispiece to ‘Visions of the Daughters of Albion’ circa 1795. © Tate

13 14 Further reading

Books

Celebrating the Black Presence in Westminster 1500-2000: Hidden Lives (Schools resource pack Key Stage 1 to A-level), available from City of Westminster Archives Centre – Barber, Jill, 2000 The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings – Olaudah Equiano, 2003 Staying Power – Fryer, Peter, 1984 William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner – Hague, William, June 2007 Bury the Chains: The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery – Hochschild, Adam, 2005 The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution – James, C L R, 2001 The Great Abolition Sham: The True Story of the End of the British Slave Trade – Jordan, Michael, 2005 Sources for Black & Asian History at the City of Westminster Archives Centre – Lalwan, Rory (ed), 2005 The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave – Prince, Mary and Salih, Sara, 2000 Rough Crossings – Schama, Simon, 2006 Transatlantic Slavery – Against Human Dignity – Tibbles, Anthony (ed), 2006 Blind Memory: Visual Representations of Slavery in and America, 1780-1865 – Wood, Marcus, 2000

Websites www.antislavery.org/2007 – Anti-Slavery International’s website with both contemporary and historical information about slavery. www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower www.blackhistory4schools.com/slavetrade – An excellent, local resource for schools. www.black-history-month.co.uk www.brycchancarey.com/slavery/index.htm – A collection of resources. www.culture.gov.uk/about_us/culture www.discoveringbristol.org.uk – The slave trade and abolition movement in Bristol. www.dur.ac.uk/4schools/index.htm – Resources about the history of slavery. www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/slavery/liverpool.asp – Provides more background on the 1788 petition. www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?show=nav.001 – Further background on the movements for and against the slave trade. www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/midcolpetition.htm – An American petition against the slave trade, of 1790. www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom/viewTheme.cfm/theme/timeline – Key Stage 3 resources from the National Maritime Museum. www.setallfree.net – Churches Together’s slavery website, which provides contemporary and historical information on slavery. www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/slavery.htm – Information about the campaign against the slave trade and slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/history/hislavery.html – Portal for slavery websites with international coverage and lots of British sites and resources. www.understandingslavery.com/aboutus– Resources and information about teaching the history of slavery. www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/slave.htm – Some details on the businessman Josiah Wedgwood’s involvement in the campaign against the slave trade and his famous anti-slavery medal. www.wilberforce2007.com/index.php – Website relating to William Wilberforce and Hull and their involvement in the campaign against the slave trade. www.wwnorton.com/nto/18century/topic_2/petition.htm – A petition from Liverpool in 1788, site contains other information as well.

For more information on events in Westminster please visit www.westminster.gov.uk, email [email protected] or ring 020 7641 2498.